GEO Initiative Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS) - Implementation Plan February 20th, 2019
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
GEO Initiative
Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS)
Implementation Plan
February 20th, 2019
Table of Contents 1. 3 Overview 3 GWIS Planned Activities 4 Foreseen meetings in the WP 2020-2022 4 Point of Contact 4 Contributors 4 2. 6 GWIS policy mandate 6 GWIS Outputs 7 GWIS Users 7 GWIS foreseen impacts and beneficiaries 8 3. 10 Use of GWIS by end users 9 Impact on decision making by policy organizations 10 4. 12 Relationship with GEO Engagement Priorities 10 Relationship with other GEO Initiatives and Flagships 11 5. 13 Key organizations and stakeholders 11 6. 14 Coordination Board (CB) 12 Advisory Board (AB) 13 7. 15 8. 16 Fire Danger 15 Active fire detection 15 Burned area mapping 15 Emissions assessment 16 Background and ancillary data 16 9. 18 Table 1. Contribution of GWIS to SDGs 17 Annexes 19 I. Acronyms and abbreviations 19 II. List of key scientific references relevant for GWIS 19 Sample of references to GWIS by relevant institutions/organizations: 20 III. Brief CV of Project Leader(s) 20
1. Executive Summary
Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS)
GEO Initiative
Overview
The Global Wildfire Information System – GEO Global Initiative builds on the work already performed in
GEO GI-09 in the work program 2016 and the GWIS Initiative in the GEO WP 2017-19.
Wildfires are a global hazard that cause enormous environmental damage and economic losses and which
continue to present a major risk in many countries. Wildfires, as opposed to controlled fires for agricultural
and fuel reduction purposes, are a major threat to humans and the environment. Recent episodes worldwide
show that wildfires are far from diminishing in their size or intensity, but may be exacerbated by the already
noticeable effects of climate change. It is estimated that about 450 Million ha of natural areas are burned
every year causing large environmental and economic damage and contributing to the increase of carbon
emissions worldwide. Wildfires have seasonal and regional patterns, which are reflected in different fire
regimes across the globe. Several national and supranational organizations have established systems aiming
at providing early warning for large fire events to minimize the effects of catastrophic fires, to monitor active
fire distribution, and the post-fire accounting of burned area.
Despite the impact of wildfires, comprehensive and accurate wildfire information at the global level does not
exist. Efforts to collect information at national level to regional levels 1 have shown that this endeavor is very
difficult, making it nearly impossible to collect such datasets at the global levels. The gathering of global
information through the aggregation of ground collected information is hampered by the existence of
different definitions of forests and wildfires among countries and by the use of different methods for data
collection. However, this information is essential to understand fire management all scales. There, remote
sensing offers a unique and standardized source of information to collect global wildfire information, which
is exploited in the development of GWIS.
The use of Earth Observation provides alternative ways to collect wildfire information. Earth observations
(EO) and information, derived both from space and surface networks, have demonstrated not only their
maturity, but their critical role in supporting fire managers, first responders and risk managers by providing
effective tools to predict severe fire danger conditions, rapidly map natural hazards, and assess impacts.
Although there is an increasing amount of spatially explicit data and information on wildfires being derived
from different sources and often collected at the national, regional and global levels, there is currently no
international initiative to amalgamate and harmonize such information, and to distribute it to users
worldwide.
GWIS aims at providing a continuous and smooth platform of harmonized information on wildfires that
could be used at different scales, from national to global. At the global level, where information on wildfires
is scattered and not harmonized, GWIS will be a unique source of information for global initiatives and
policies, while supporting the analysis of wildfire regimes at this scale. The calibration of the system and the
validation of the different modules will require the close collaboration with regional and national partners.
In countries that currently do not have a wildfire information system, GWIS will fill this gap and help
countries engage in international collaboration. For instance, webinars were organized by NASA in 2018,
while two additional webinars were organized in 2019 in support of firefighting operations in Guatemala and
Bolivia in 2019. Additionally, the GOFC Fire IT provide for a further mechanism to reach countries around
the world. This is long process, which for European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) 2 has taken 20
years, starting from 7 partner countries in 2000 to reach 42 countries in Europe, Middle East and North
Africa in 2019. For countries and sub-national regions where wildfire information systems exist, GWIS will
provide a complementary and independent source of harmonized free and open accessible information
1
https://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/media/filer_public/ff/6c/ff6c76b8-819a-499d-a363-c746a210f5bb/eudb_tech_spec_final_2register.pdf
2
https://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu
adding to the national/regional information sources. GWIS builds on the experience, achievements and
networks established connection with the EFFIS and the Global Observation of Forest Cover Global
Observation of Land Dynamics (GOFC GOLD) Fire Implementation Team and Fire Regional Networks 3.
Engagement with wildfire managers at national and local scale will be channeled through the EFFIS network
in Europe, Middle East and North Africa, and through the GOFC Fire IT networks in the rest of the world.
Additional work from 2019 will focus on the integration of wildfire data from regional and national fire
information systems following GEOSS data sharing principles.
GWIS Planned Activities
1. Maintain and further develop the Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), providing harmonized
fire information e.g. fire danger, active fires, burned areas, emissions, as well as reports on wildfire
regimes and statistics at national, regional and global level.
• Implemented by the European Commission Joint Research Centre in collaboration with GWIS
partners from 2020 to 2022.
2. Integration of NASA Earth Science, Applied Science Program-supported GEO GWIS Project results into
operation:
2.1. Global Active Fire monitoring from geostationary satellites
2.2. Fire danger prediction – specific calibration for regional scales
2.3. National/regional/global GWIS services for fire managers and fire administrations.
• Final deliverables of the projects will be ready in 2021 and will be implemented in GWIS by 2022.
3. Integration of global wildfire products from all sources, including e.g. results of the ESA Fire CCI
products and Copernicus products from different services.
• This is an ongoing process and new products are incorporated in GWIS as they become available.
ESA CCI and GFED will be available in GWIS by the end of 2019.
4. Networking of major national and regional fire information providers by organizing an annual workshop
convening key international organizations and initiatives (e.g. GOFC-GOLD Fire IT) and national and
regional providers, e.g. Australia, Canada, China, Central and South America and South Africa.
• Networking with relevant partners is a continuous activity carried out through webinars,
participation in international fora and through the reach out activities of the GOFC Fire IT and
EFFIS networks.
5. Keep the established operational links with other wildfire communities dealing with wildfire aspects at
global scale (e.g. burned area assessment, emission estimation) and develop new links with other
wildfire-related communities.
• Links are already established with Copernicus CAMS, WMO and GFED on fire emissions, with
NASA and NOAA on active fire detection and burnt area mapping, with NASA ARSET on training
and dissemination, with GWIS partners on wildfire behavior (Univ. San Jose) and fire danger
(Canada), among others.
6. Further develop the GWIS by integrating and harmonizing as much as possible regional wildfire data
and information sources.
• Ongoing process in which data are integrated from different sources. It requires the close contact
with partner organizations providing the datasets (e.g. Columbia Univ./NASA and ECMWF for fire
danger)
7. Develop, implement and promote the establishment of mechanisms for interoperability and
communication among national, regional and global wildfire information systems following OGC
standards and guidelines, and the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles.
• Interoperability is a must in the European Union and it is strictly followed in EFFIS. Since GWIS is
thought evolve mirroring the development of EFFIS, the same processes will be implemented in
GWIS. These follow the GEOS Data Sharing Principles.
8. Develop methods for the global assessment of wildfire risk and implementation of this assessment at the
global scale.
3
http://gofc-fire.umd.edu/RegNtwks/index.php• Close collaboration exists between GWIS and the UNDRR initiatives on Global Assessment Report
on Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the Global Risk Assessment Framework (GRAF) in
which GWIS wildfire risk is a pilot.
9. Coordinate and promote capacity building and training activities in close cooperation with the GOFC-
GOLD Fire Implementation Team regional networks and the EFFIS network.
• Capacity building will be channeled as indicated above in collaboration with the NASA ARSET
team and the ECHO ERCC training activities.
10. Promote dissemination of information and training on the use of GWIS methods and tools to the wildfire
community and the general public, in cooperation with NASA ARSET, the Copernicus Communication
Services and the GEO Secretariat.
• These activities will be implemented through the preparation of guides on the use of GWIS,
webinars and training sessions, making use of the networks mentioned above.
Foreseen meetings in the WP 2020-2022
GWIS Annual meeting, Nov. 2020, Nov. 2021, Nov 2022
Contribution to the GEO Annual Symposium - 2020, 2021, 2022
Contribution to regional networks – Expert Group on Forest Fires (Europe, Middle East and North Africa),
SAFNET, SEARRIN (Asia), RedLatiff, MIOMBO
Contribution to wildfire related conferences & workshops such as the EARSEL Fire SIG, Wildfire, Forest
Fire Research Conference series.
Point of Contact: Jesús San-Miguel-Ayanz, European Commission Joint Research Center (JRC)
Contributors: GTOS (GOFC-GOLD), NASA, Canada (CNR), NOAA, ESA, Brazil (INPE), China, South
Africa (CSIR), Australia, New Zealand, NL, ES, UK, etc. Full list of contributors
at http://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/partners/ (Partners list in ANNEX, not for distribution)2. Purpose (3 pages) Wildfires are a global hazard that causes enormous environmental damage and economic losses and which continues to present a major risk in many countries. Recent episodes in Indonesia (2015), Chile (2016), Canada (2016 & 20117), the USA (2017 & 2018) Europe (2017 & 2018), South Africa (2017 & 2018), among others, show that wildfires, in numbers, size and intensity are not diminishing, and may be exacerbated by the already noticeable effects of climate change. It is estimated that nearly 400 Million hectares of natural areas are burned every year causing large environmental and economic damage and contributing to the increase of carbon emissions worldwide. Economic direct losses from wildfires in Europe are estimated in about 3 billion Euro, annually. Reports from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) estimate over 54 billion Euro in losses in the period 2000-2017, with over 600 people killed as a direct consequence of the fires. Wildfires have seasonal and regional patterns, which are reflected in different fire regimes across the globe and several national and supranational organizations have established systems aiming at providing early warning for large fire events to minimize the effects of catastrophic fires. Despite the above, comprehensive and accurate ground-based inventories on wildfires at the global level do not exist, nor does a global system exist that is able to provide in a synthesized manner information on the evolution of fire regimes and impact at national, regional and global levels. Efforts to collect information at national and regional levels have shown that this endeavor is very difficult, making it nearly impossible at the global level. The existence of different definitions of forests or wildfires, different methods in the collection of information and different systems at the national or sub-national level, makes it impossible to gather global information through the aggregation of ground collected information. A coordinated effort in wildfire prevention and fighting requires harmonized information at the regional scale. This can only be achieved by a shared information system; the experience of EFFIS in Europe, which is shared by 43 countries, will thus be extrapolated to the global scale; critical fire events such as those in Indonesia in 2015 would potentially be managed more efficiently with the existence of a shared wildfire information system among the countries in the region. Earth observations (EO) and information, derived both from space and surface networks, have demonstrated not only their maturity, but their critical role in supporting fire managers, first responders and risk managers by providing effective tools to rapidly map natural hazards and assess impacts. Although there is an increasing amount of spatially explicit data and information on wildfires being derived from different sources and often collected at the national, regional and global levels, an international initiative to pull the information together does not exist. GWIS intends to make a wide use of EO derived data, next to other sources of information on e.g. numerical weather predictions for fire danger, land cover and fuel information, as well as ground collected data, to provide a comprehensive view and input to understanding wildfires. GWIS will thus provide a continuous and smooth platform of harmonized information on wildfires that could be used from local to global. The calibration of the system and the validation of the different modules will require the close collaboration with national and regional partners. In countries that currently do not have a wildfire information system, GWIS will fill this gap and help countries engage in international collaboration. For countries and regions where wildfire information systems exist, GWIS will provide a complementary and independent source of harmonized information adding to the national/regional information sources. At the regional level, GWIS builds on the European Commission activities around the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) 4, which currently provides information for the pan-European territory, Middle East and North Africa, and its associated network of 41 countries in that region. At the global level, where information on wildfires is scattered and not harmonized, GWIS will be a unique source of information for global initiatives and policies. 4 San-Miguel-Ayanz, J., Schulte, E., Schmuck, G., Camia, A., Strobl, P., Libertà, G., Giovando, C., Boca, R., Sedano, F., Kempeneers, P., McInerney, D., Withmore, C., Santos de Oliveira, S., Rodrigues, M., Durrant, T., Corti, P., Oehler, F., Vilar L., Amatulli, G. (2012) Comprehensive monitoring of wildfires in europe: the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), in John Tiefenbacher (Ed.), Approaches to Managing Disaster - Assessing Hazards, Emergencies and Disaster Impacts, , pp. 87-105, InTech, ISBN 978-953-51-0294-6.
GEO provides a unique platform for international cooperation and provides links to other global initiatives
with which data can be shared. In the area of wildfires, the Global Wildfire Information System initiative
aims at bringing together existing information sources at national, regional and global levels in order to have
a comprehensive view and evaluation of fire regimes and fire effects at global level.
GWIS builds on the ongoing activities of the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), the GTOS
GOFC-GOLD Fire Implementation Team (GOFC Fire IT), and the associated Regional Networks,
complementing existing and related activities that are ongoing around the world with respect to wildfire
information gathering. The link between GWIS and GOFC Fire IT is ensures as the lead of GWIS is one of
the co-chairs of GOFC Fire IT.
The detailed schedule of annual activities and agreements among the partners is discussed at the yearly
meeting of the GWIS network, such as the most recent that took place in October 2018 in the context of the
ForestSAT conference in College Park (Maryland, USA). Workshops conclusions and recommendations are
posted at the GWIS site and will be shared with other GEO communities for which the GWIS activities may
be relevant. In addition to capacity building activities regarding the use of advance information systems
such as GWIS by fire managers in the regions, additional actions will be taken to link GWIS to other GEO
relevant initiatives and establish synergies with capacity building activities foreseen under those.
GWIS policy mandate
There are many European and UN policies that require information on wildfire regimes and impact at
national, regional and global levels.
At the regional level, a mandate to establish a decentralized database on forest fires was given by the Forest
Europe - Strasbourg Resolution 3 5, which is currently implemented by the European Commission Joint
Research Centre in the context of EFFIS. It aims at assessing the impact of wildfires in the Forest Europe
region, currently composed of 43 countries. n 2019, the Commission has published the new RescEU
legislation and the Communication on "Stepping up EU action against deforestation and forest degradation",
in which the EC has committed to maintain and support information systems such as the European Forest
Fire Information System (EFFIS) and the Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS). GWIS is already
supporting the activities of the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO) through the Emergency
Response Coordinating Centre (ERCC), which deploys humanitarian aid worldwide in case of disasters.
Already in 2019, two webinars have taken place with the fire management authorities of Guatemala and
Bolivia, while GWIS has issues a report on wildfires in the Amazon, taken up by the EC services in charge
of international collaboration worldwide. Additionally, GWIS has provided data supporting ECHO
operations in other regions such as Indonesia, in 2015. GWIS is thus seen as a critical instrument in the
implementation of the EU Copernicus program for Emergency Management Services at the global scale.
At the global level, the need for monitoring the effects of wildfires is linked to global commitments in the
areas of adaptation and mitigation of climate change (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the
latest Paris Agreement on Climate Change and recognized in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction 2015-2030 (Sendai Framework) under the UNDRR (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk
Reduction). GWIS is thus aligned with the above initiatives in providing required data on wildfires
worldwide.
The Sendai Framework aims at achieving substantial reductions of damage caused by disasters and enhance
international cooperation, increasing the availability and access to early warning systems and disasters risk
information. In the area of wildfires, the GWIS components of fire danger and fire risk assessment contribute
substantially to these actions. The JRC has been involved since 2017 in discussions with UNDRR, which
coordinates and supervises the preparation of the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction
(GAR) for the inclusion of wildfire risk in the report for 2021/2022. Furthermore, GWIS is engaged in the
GRAF (Global Risk Assessment Framework), which analyzes potential contributions to the GAR reports in
the coming years, to build a first global wildfire risk assessment.
5
https://foresteurope.orgThe UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FA) is currently collaborating with GWIS in two main aspects. The first aspect is the assessment of wildfire forest damage, which is essential for the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2020 (FAO produces the FRA every 5 years). Until recently the assessment of active fires and burned areas in the countries and the damage caused by these to forests was compiled through questionnaires that were filled in by the national authorities. However, there are many countries that do not routinely collect information on wildfires. In this context, GWIS will provide continuous reporting of fire regimes, burned areas and forest damage derived from the GWIS global fire database, which currently spans from 2000 to 2018. A second aspect, although not less important, is the estimation of emissions from wildfires, which is essential for the FAO global inventory on biomass Green House Gas emissions in the Land Use and Land Use Change (LULUCF) context. As in the case of burned areas, GWIS will provide country inventories of wildfire emissions which will contribute to the FAO global emission inventory. In this same context, the JRC collaborates internally with the EDGAR 6 anthropogenic emissions database in order to build a comprehensive database of global emissions combining human sources and biomass burning emissions from wildfires. GWIS Outputs The scope of GWIS and its products is the global scale. GWIS generates harmonized wildfire information at the global scale and the access to the data is free under the European Commission license, based on the creative common attribution. Data are provided through Web Map Services (WMS) at the GWIS platform: http://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/applications/global-viewer. GWIS is currently developed following the scheme of the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), which provides information on the different phases of the wildfire cycle, supporting wildfire prevention and preparedness, active fire monitoring during the emergency phase, and post-fire damage assessments, quantifying the impact on human population, protected areas and land cover, soils and other assets, and estimating wildfire emissions. In the area of fire danger, GWIS holds the current wildfire danger forecast database, which is available online. Additionally, in collaboration with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) a database of historical fire danger re-analysis has been generated and accepted for publication in Nature Scientific Data 7. The database will be available through GWIS and in zenodo (https://zenodo.org). Under the area of fire danger forecast, GWIS will shortly provide access to the NASA Global Fire Weather Database GWFED database 8. GWIS holds active fire information with a database containing active fire data derived from MODIS sensors and retrieved from the NASA LANCE system for the period 2000-2017. Active fire data from VIIRS are also available for the period 2016-2018. Likewise, GWIS holds MODIS-derived burned area and active fire databases from 2001 to present, updated monthly. Within the section on burned area mapping, GWIS intends to incorporate and make available data/information from other global databases such as the ESA Fire CCI Burned Area products at 250 m, from 2001 to 2017 as well as the burned area product generated by the Copernicus Global Land Services. Additionally, GWIS has generated a unique single event database on the basis of the MODIS burned area product that allows assessing wildfire duration, speed of the fire line as well as regimes of wildfires in terms of spatial and temporal distribution. This database is available in Pangea and its publication has been accepted in Nature Scientific Data. The database has been used for the recent report of on “Wildfires, forest degradation and deforestation in the Amazon region” as well as for updated reports on fires in Brazil and Bolivia requested by the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO). An example of a recent map of fires in Bolivia is provided below. For the first time, national wildfire statistics are available for the 6 http://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu 7 Artes et al., A global wildfire dataset for the analysis of fire regimes, fire behavior and impacts, Nature Scientific Data (in press). 8 https://data.giss.nasa.gov/impacts/gfwed/
period 2001-2017. Trends on the number of fires and area burned in the countries are provided as graphs in
the GWIS analysis tools and downloadable from the site 9.
GWIS Users
The users of GWIS are wildfire managers, policy makers, environmental analysis and citizens that are
interested in the assessment of wildfire regimes and/or seek information on the current situation of wildfires
in their countries or elsewhere in the world.
GWIS provides fire managers in the countries with data and information to support preparedness and
mitigation actions to minimize the negative effects of wildfires. During the critical phase of ongoing fires,
GWIS provides information on the evolution of the fires and the potential of these to further spread into
areas that may be of concern because of environmental values or because of presence of population and
human infrastructures. Furthermore, GWIS contributes to a global assessment of wildfire impacts and
potential trends of fire regimes in different world regions, contributing to the assessment of the effects of
climate change on wildfires.
The EFFIS and GOFC Fire IT networks are used to reach out to wildfire management communities
regarding training on the products and use of GWIS as well as cooperation in the calibration and validation
of these products.
GWIS foreseen impacts and beneficiaries
Sound global policies and decisions regarding human wellbeing and the wellbeing of our planet require
continuous and reliable information on global processes. Wildfires are currently the cause of about 20 to
25% of the CO 2 global emissions and one of the main causes of forest and environmental degradation
worldwide. GWIS will thus provide the basis for evidence-based policies that will result in the reduction of
losses due to increase preparedness and mitigation of wildfire effects. As mentioned in the above heading on
policy mandate, the contribution of GWIS may be highly significant in the contribution to assessing the
Sendai targets and enhancing the progress in many of the SDGs.
The analysis of GWIS data will allow characterizing fire regimes and assessing potential critical changes that
some regions are already suffering due to climate change effects, allowing for both mitigation and adaptation
measures. In the context of wildfire behavior, GWIS is working with world experts in the characterization
and prediction of critical fires, those that are responsible for the largest number of casualties, and which are
characterized by a dramatic speed and intensity.
9
https://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/static/gwis_stats/3. Background and Previous Achievements (3 pages)
The GWIS services are available through its website: http://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/applications/global-viewer
In the period 2017-2019, the following GWIS activities were considered:
1. Establish and further develop a prototype Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS) providing
harmonized fire information (e.g. fire danger) – building on initial activities of the European
Commission in the European Forest Fire Information System and the Global Observation of Forest
Cover-Global Observation of Land Dynamics Fire Implementation Team (GOFC-GOLD Fire IT).
State of implementation:
Work well in progress according to plan, with continuous development of the GWIS web services.
2. Promote the networking of major national and regional fire information providers by organizing an
annual workshop convening key international organizations and initiatives (e.g. GOFC-GOLD Fire IT)
and national and regional providers, e.g. Australia, Canada, China, Central and South America and South
Africa.
State of implementation:
Activity implemented through the organization of GWIS/GOFC Fire IT meetings in London (2017) and
Washington DC (2018) and the planned meeting in Frascati, Italy (2019).
3. Establish operational links and, if possible, arrangement with other wildfire communities dealing with
wildfire aspects at global scale (e.g. burned area assessment, emission estimation).
State of implementation:
Links to the ECMWF were established and data on wildfire emission are published in GWIS. Ongoing work
is ongoing with other emissions communities (e.g. GFED) to make the data available through GWIS.
The wildfire fuel map developed by the University of Alcala is displayed in the GWIS web site and the data
available through appropriate links to the scientific article and datasets.
4. Further develop the GWIS by integrating and harmonizing regional wildfire data information sources.
State of implementation. Only EFFIS is fully integrated with GWIS. Contact exist with other
national/regional information services and data are shared with those, such as the Advance Fire Information
System (AFIS; https://afis.co.za/) in South Africa.
5. Develop, implement and promote the establishment of mechanisms for interoperability and
communication among national, regional and global wildfire information systems following OGC
standards and guidelines, and the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles.
State of implementation:
Collaboration is ongoing with the GEOSS Portal in which GWIS data can be accessed and displayed.
6. Coordinate and promote capacity building and training activities in close cooperation with the GOFC-
GOLD Fire Implementation Team regional networks and the EFFIS network.
State of implementation:
GWIS is funding the participation of the GOFC Fire IT regional network representatives to the annual
GWIS/GOFC Fire IT meetings. Furthermore, when requested, GWIS contributes to the organization and
funding of Regional Network meetings, such as that of SAFNET (South Africa) in April 2018.
Users are already incorporating GWIS products in the daily routine for wildfire management at national or
regional scales. The graphic shows the geographical dispersion of the users. The collaboration with UN
organizations such as FAO or ISDR can provide a large impulse to the usage of the system by national
wildfire management administrations. The example of EFFIS in Europe, where most countries have a
national wildfire management system, shows the potential of a regional or global system that provides
information. EFFIS is currently used by 192 distinct countries worldwide and has about 300000 users. The
potential use of GWIS worldwide is much greater than that of EFFIS, as it can support many countries that
do not have a wildfire monitoring system in place.Use of GWIS by end users
Below is the graph of usage of GWIS since 2017, when the first GWIS viewer was established. Although
GWIS is not yet fully operational, the number of users has greatly increased during the last year.
In 2018, The number of unique visitors of the web site was above 16000, from 144 distinct countries. The
figure below shows the spatial distribution of countries accessing GWIS in 2019.
Impact on decision making by policy organizations
Decisions on intervention in relation to wildfires are taken at the European Response Coordinating Centre
(ERCC) on the basis of available information in GWIS. Information from GWIS is routinely used for the
production of the maps used by the European Commission Humanitarian Office, whose operational arm is
the ERCC. The following link provides information on the use of GWIS by ERCC regarding fires in e.g.
Australia, USA 10. Daily maps are available for fires in e.g. USA (2016), Chile, Australia, California (USA),
South Africa, Canada (2017), California (2018) 11. In Europe, EFFIS, with the same scheme as GWIS, covers
the operational needs of the wildfire management administrations and the ERCC.
10
https://erccportal.jrc.ec.europa.eu/About-us/Full-Text-Search?Search=gwis
11
https://erccportal.jrc.ec.europa.eu/Maps/Daily-maps (search fire)As an example of the success in the initial development of the system, GWIS was included in the GEO
Highlights 2016-2017 report 12 Request for access to information and/or updates of the system are received
by the JRC from nearly all locations worldwide, e.g. South Africa, Australia, USA (Pacific coast), Middle
East countries, Chile, etc.
Although GWIS is not fully operational, it is routinely used by many administrations worldwide as shown by
the number of countries that access its services. The next years will be decisive for the dissemination of
information about the system and the strengthening of relations with final users via FAO and the GOFC Fire
IT networks. Also, despite its novelty, either the GWIS data or the system itself have already been referred to
in 35 scientific articles and literature.
4. Relationship to GEO Engagement Priorities and to other Work Program Activities (3 pages)
Relationship with GEO Engagement Priorities
Fire management plays an important role in realizing Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use
of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land
degradation and halt biodiversity loss. The availability of consistent, reliable and independent data, analysis
and products through GWIS directly supports and informs this SDG target. In addition to the above goal,
GWIS contributes directly to the implementation of other SDGs objectives as presented in Table 1, in the
annex.
Wildfires are one of the main causes of deforestation and forest degradation in many regions of the world.
Since, currently fire emissions are not fully considered in the IPCC reports, further efforts are required to
characterize whether wildfires are carbon neutral or not. Obviously, deforestation caused by wildfires is not.
Both activities are related to the REDD+ programs.
The strong emergence of Disaster Risk Reduction at global level has seen the Sendai Framework developed
as the successor instrument to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015: Building the Resilience
of Nations and Communities to Disasters. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015 – 2030
(UN 2015a) has a strong emphasis on disaster risk management (before) as opposed to disaster management
(during and after). The Sendai Framework is being linked to, and worked on, in the context of the
Sustainable Development goals (SGDs), which are referred to in the above paragraphs.
The Sendai Framework articulates the following that should be considered in the context of wildfires: the
need for improved understanding of disaster risk in all its dimensions of exposure, vulnerability and hazard
characteristics; preparedness to “Build Back Better” (improved post-fire landscape management and use);
recognition of stakeholders and their roles and strengthening of international cooperation and global
partnership.
The Sendai Framework (UN 2015a) in relation to science and research notes the need to promote and
improve dialogue and cooperation among scientific and technological communities, other relevant
stakeholders and policymakers; to enhance the scientific and technical work on disaster risk reduction;
promote scientific research on disaster risk patterns, causes and effects; identify research and technology
gaps and set recommendations for research.
The concept, development, platform and products of the GWIS contribute directly to the efforts framed in
the Sendai Framework.
Relationship with other GEO Initiatives and Flagships
The work in GWIS is related to several initiatives related to disaster risk management, such as the Global
Drought Information System (GDIS), the Global Flood Alert System (GloFAS), GEODARMA and those
12
https://www.earthobservations.org/documents/geo_xiv/GEO%20Highlights%202016-2017.pdfdealing with human exposure to natural hazards, such as GEO Human Planet. Additionally, the work in
GWIS is highly relevant for initiatives focusing on the observation of natural resources such as GFOI, GEO
ECO and GEOBON and regional data sharing and networking initiatives such as AmeriGEOSS,
AfriGEOSS, EuroGEOSS
5. Stakeholder Engagement and Capacity Building
Key organizations and stakeholders
FAO has identified that data on fire incidence, land area and biomass burned is weak in many countries and
incomplete globally, and also that the combination of existing data sets, remote sensing data, historical
information and emerging data sets and methods applied at national level will vastly improve understanding
by countries of their wildfires, providing independent and verifiable assessment of where fires occur (fire
detection – hotspots) and the landscapes, vegetation and communities impacted (burned area). This step of
Research and analysis of fires is essential in planning for Risk Reduction, Readiness to fight wildfires,
Response to wildfires and Recovery of the restoration of landscapes, livelihoods and assets impacted by
wildfires. FAO is seeking to support collaboration and engagement among the remote sensing service
providers, researchers and fire and land managers to enable the flow of data and information to countries and
facilitate continuous improvement.
User and stakeholder engagement is already implemented through the networks of the European Forest Fire
Information System and will be further expanded to the GOFC GOLF Fire Networks. However, up until
now, the above networks are a set of disconnected groups, and do not have a common information hub where
wildfire information, expertise, and good practices could be shared. The establishment of GWIS will thus
bring all networks to a higher level of networking, information sharing and collaboration that does not exist
at the moment.
Stakeholders in the regional networks are already engaged in the co-development of GWIS, through the use
of data and services and the support in the calibration and validation of these. GWIS, with the support of the
EU Copernicus Program and NASA, intends to organize annual webinars and workshops in which GWIS
will be presented and discussed. Support to regional networks took place already in 2018 through the
SAFNET and EFFIS annual workshops.
Tools, services and data are freely available in GWIS, supporting national, regional and global agencies for
informed decision making as regards wildfires. Additionally, the scientific community supporting GWIS
(see partners) is in close cooperation with numerous networks of research centers and universities. A
network of university centers involved in fire research would help to create a “fire virtual academy” that
would help transferring knowledge on the generation and analysis of fire information. This network may be
coordinated by GWIS, as part of a distribution list that includes fire managers, decision-makers, and
academics involved in fire research.
Some of the current and/or planned activities to engage stakeholders and/or strengthen individual,
organizational and/or institutional capacity and the expected outputs and outcomes of these activities are
listed below:
● In late February FAO, 2019 will undertake a training course on fire management concepts that will
include a focus on the Review and Analysis of the fire situation, Fire reporting and recording,
Damage and Loss Assessment, Data sources on fires, Supplementary information sources and
Interpretation of the data and information and discuss the fire data needs and related requirement of
the FAO Near East and North Africa Region.
● In April, JRC will meet with the Expert Group on Forest Fires (EFFIS network) to discuss on the
assessment of wildfire risk at the pan-European level. The scope and methodology developed is
envisaged to be applied at the global level.
● GEO GWIS side event at the Wildfire Conference, in Brazil, in October 2019, will reach out to the
firefighting community and the fire research community gathered around the Conference.● 4th Annual GWIS/GOFC Fire IT Workshop, at ESA headquarters, in Frascati, Italy, October 2019,
with the participation of regional networks worldwide.
6. Governance
Coordination Board (CB)
GWIS is led by JRC and contributed by Canada, China, EC, Japan, South Africa, USA and ESA, ECWMF
among others 13. It is built on the experience on setting up the European Forest Fire Information System
(EFFIS) and the collaboration of the GTOS Global Observation of Forest Cover Global Observation of Land
Dynamics (GOFC-GOLD) Fire Implementation Team and its regional networks. A team of 12 staff in JRC
works for GWIS. Coordination is made through meetings, in which JRC and the co-chairs of GOFC-GOLD
Fire Implementation Team and other major contributions (e.g. NASA, Univ. Maryland) participate. An
annual meeting with all partner organizations and contributions has been organized and held since 2016.
The proposed governance of GWIS includes the presence of a Coordination Board, composed of the three
main organizations funding and/or coordinating the development of GWIS. Moreover, it is proposed that for
the period 2020-2022, an Advisory Board (AB) would be set up. The AB would provide support to the Lead
of the Initiative at the European Commission Joint Research Centre in several thematic aspects that are
essential in GWIS and would have a direct link to regional initiatives and networks and national wildfire
management administrations.
Advisory Board (AB)
The AB is to be composed of relevant key person in the relevant areas of wildfire science and management
globally.
Indicatively, the AB could be composed of international scientists who are already members of the GOFC
Fire IT such as those listed below in alphabetical order:
● Vincent Ambrosia, NASA Applied Science Program (USA)
● Luigi Boschetti, Univ. Idaho (USA) – Co-lead NASA ROSES project GWIS Services
● Marc Castellnou, Head of Forest Fire Fighting Operations, Catalonia (Spain)
13
Full list of partners at http://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/partners/● Emilio Chuvieco, Univ. of Alcala (Spain) – Lead of ESA Fire CCI Burned Area Project
● Craig Clements, San Jose State University (CA USA)
● Robert Field, NASA & Columbia University (USA) – Lead NASA ROSES GWIS Fire Danger
● Mike Flannigan, Natural Resources Canada (Canada)
● Louis Giglio, Univ. Maryland (USA), Co-lead NASA ROSES GWIS Active Fire Detection
● Chris Justice, Univ. of Maryland, previous co-chair of GOFC GOLD Fire IT (2007-2016)
● Peter Moore, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
● David Roy, Co-chair GOFC Fire Implementation Team
● Wilfrid Schroeder, NOAA, Co-lead NASA ROSES GWIS Active Fire Detection
● Guido van der Werf, Univ. of Amsterdam – Lead of GFED activities
● Krishna Vadrevu, GOFC Fire IT Network responsible.
● Martin Wooster, Co-chair GOFC GOLD Fire Implementation Team
The above members cover nearly all the phases of wildfire management, from science to operation and will
support the development of GWIS in all aspects of wildfire monitoring. The AB would be flexible and able
to incorporate additional members in relevant topics, as needed. The building blocks of a governance
structure will include links to regional platforms and contact with national wildfire administrations.
In addition to the AB, GWIS builds on the activities of the GOFC GOLD Fire IT and is supported by a series
of partner staff and organizations. The full list of participating staff and organizations is available
at http://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/partners/.
Communication with the AB will be mainly through email and periodic Video Conferencing for assessment
of progress in the work plan and setting of immediate objectives within it. Progress on the implementation
of the Initiative will be done through the annual GWIS & GOFC Fire IT meeting and for intermediate
thematic meetings in relation to GWIS activities. Progress on the GWIS activities will be posted at the
GWIS home page, under the section news and events and shared periodically with the GEO Secretariat.
Given the collaborative basis of the GWIS maturation activities and the stable funding support of such by
both the European Commission Copernicus Program and the NASA Earth Science, Applied Science
Program, minimal risk is foreseen for the implementation of the GWIS work program. The development of
the Global Wildfire Information System is supported by the European Copernicus program 14, which foresees
the development of data sharing platforms and services in the GWIS. The Copernicus provides a stable
development and funding platform until 2020, which is currently in process of renewal for the period 2021-
2027. The NASA Applied Science Program provided funding for three investigator-led initiatives for the
period 2018-2021. These three investigators are named on the Advisory Board, and supporting developments
and enhancements of the GWIS.
7. Resources (1 page)
GWIS is supported by the European Commission Joint Research Centre activities on forest fire monitoring in
the context of the extension of the European Forest Fire Information System to the global scale. The
contribution of the EC Joint Research Centre includes the development and maintenance of a prototype
Global Wildfire Information System as a potential component of the Copernicus EU Program.
Currently, the JRC EFFIS/GWIS team consists of 12 scientific staff with expertise on remote sensing,
statistical and spatial analysis, information systems, web development and interoperability. This team will be
supported by other JRC colleagues with specific expertise on data harmonization, data infrastructures and
interoperability, who work on the implementation of the EU Directive INSPIRE 15 (that aims at creating a
European Union (EU) spatial data infrastructure) and who are in close connection with GEO and GEOSS
14
Regulation (EU) No 377/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 establishing the
Copernicus Programme and repealing Regulation (EU) No 911/2010
15
Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2007 establishing an Infrastructure
for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE)relevant initiatives in this field. The resources and expertise mentioned above ensure that GWIS is
discoverable through the GEO Common Infrastructure (GCI).
Through its NASA Earth Science, Applied Science Program, NASA is currently investing in three projects to
support the development of GWIS in the following aspects: (1) fire danger forecasting and support to
regional networks, (2) development of new active fire detection global products and (3) customization and
development of products and services aimed at end users, i.e. wildfire management administrations. In the
period 2020-2022, these three NASA-supported efforts will enhance and expand the capabilities of GWIS
Furthermore, NASA supports the use and dissemination of information on GWIS through its ARSET
program, which includes the preparation of training material and webinars. One ARSET webinar, focused on
GEO-GWIS was developed in 2018 16, and additional materials for training / webinars are being explored for
2020-2022.
The participants in the GWIS initiative provide in kind contribution through their participation in the
meetings and teleconferences. The contributors are the owners of national and regional systems, who will
contribute to the design and development of GWIS and the calibration and validation of the GWIS modules.
Contributors to GWIS will provide support for the editing of documents and reports during the follow up of
the Initiative in the WP2020-2022. The list of participants and their contribution will be regularly updated
along the duration of the project. The networks will contribute to the development of GWIS by providing
feedback on the use of GWIS in the different regions of the world.
The European Commission Joint Research Centre, in the context of its activities within the Copernicus
program, foresees the provision of financial resources for the organization of an annual workshop in the
period 2020-2022, in addition to the resources on the development and maintenance of GWIS platform and
web services. JRC will support the collaboration and organization of regional networks, as needed. No
other specific financial support is provided by any of the Institutions participating in the task.
8. Technical Synopsis (2 pages)
All the data produced in GWIS, once tested and properly assessed, are open and freely available. This
section describes the data sets used by GWIS. The principal datasets used in GWIS can be grouped
according to the different phases of wildfire monitoring, from the pre-fire stage through active-fire detection,
to the post-fire damage assessment. The following paragraphs describe the main sources of data in each stage
and the scientific basis for the processing of the data by partner organizations.
Fire Danger
JRC uses Numerical Weather Predictions for fire danger prediction in GWIS. The Canadian Fire Weather
Index is the default for the assessment of wildfire danger, while other fire danger indices such as the Haines
or Mark 5 (Australia) are currently being tested for additional implementation into GWIS, where
regionalized models have more scientific validity.
Historical reanalysis and real-time NWP forecasts come from the European Centre for Medium-
RangeWeather Forecasts (ECMWF) and from MeteoFrance FR. Fire danger from the NASA GFWED has
fire danger computed from NASA Modern Era Retrospective Reanalysis version 2 (MERRA-2), Goddard
Earth Observing System Model version 5 (GEOS-5) NWP, and Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for
Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG). The integration of GFWED data into GWIS will provide an
additional forecast ensemble member, and strengthen operational use of global fire weather data at regional
scales, for example through AFIS (https://fdi.afis.co.za/).
16
https://arset.gsfc.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/land/webinars/18-advwild/AdvancedWildfires_Presentation2_Final.pdfSeasonal fire weather predictions are derived by JRC from the ECMWF Seasonal System (S-4) and
characterized for each world region. Currently, these only exist for Europe under EFFIS and have been
prototyped for Indonesia using NOAA Coupled Forecast System Model (CFS) v2.
Seasonal Fire Danger Forecast is under development in collaboration with ECMWF and NASA (through the
Applied Science Program-supported project developments).
For fire danger prediction, JRC uses the open-source method developed by Van Wagner for the Canadian
FWI.
Active fire detection
Active fire information is provided in GWIS from MODIS 17, VIIRS 18, Sentinel-3 (not yet operational). A
global Geostationary product will be developed in the context of the NASA ROSES project by University of
Maryland & NOAA on the “Development of harmonized multi-sensor global active fire data set.”
Burned area mapping
Current burned area maps come from the MODIS (MCD64A1) product 19, which is updated monthly. Current
burned area maps are produced by JRC on the basis of the VIIRS active fire product to cover the time gap
until the MODIS data are available. This later product allows to monitor ongoing fires and assess their
spread in near real time.
As mentioned above, it is foreseen to include additional products such as the ESA Fire CCI and the
Copernicus Global Land Product.
Emissions assessment
Current emissions in GWIS are available online and area provided by the Copernicus Atmospheric
Monitoring service 20.
Background and ancillary data
Currently GWIS is unable to display the Google background; given the high number of users, and although
GWIS is operated by a research and non-profit organization like the JRC, this restriction persists.
Ancillary data for global fuel information is available in GWIS and provided by the University of Alcala 21.
Information on human infrastructure is provide by the Global Human Settlement Layer of JRC22, while
vulnerability layers are currently under development.
17
MODIS Collection 6 NRT Hotspot / Active Fire Detections MCD14DL. Available on-line
[https://earthdata.nasa.gov/firms].DOI: 10.5067/FIRMS/MODIS/MCD14DL.NRT.006
18
NRT VIIRS 375 m Active Fire product VNP14IMGT. Available on-line [https://earthdata.nasa.gov/firms].
DOI:10.5067/FIRMS/VIIRS/VNP14IMGT.NRT.001.
19
Giglio, L., Justice, C., Boschetti, L., Roy, D. (2015). MCD64A1 MODIS/Terra+Aqua Burned Area Monthly L3
Global 500m SIN Grid V006 [Data set]. NASA EOSDIS Land Processes DAAC. doi: 10.5067/MODIS/MCD64A1.006
20
https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/catalogue#/product/urn:x-wmo:md:int.ecmwf::copernicus:cams:prod:an:fire-
radiative-power:pid324
21
Pettinari, M Lucrecia (2015): Global Fuelbed Dataset. Department of Geology, Geography and Environment,
University of Alcala, Spain, doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.849808
22
https://ghsl.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.phpGWIS uses the European Space Agency CCI Land Cover 23 dataset to assess wildfire damages and provide
statistics at country and global level on the impact of wildfires.
9. Data policy (2 pages)
Policy of the Initiative regarding data availability, including degree of adherence to the
GEOSS Data Sharing Principles and GEOSS Data Management Principles. Data are organized in a GWIS
collection for which, currently, metadata are handled by the JRC Data Portal. The data are already
discoverable through the GEOSS Platform.
All the data elaborated and synthesized in the GWIS web services are freely available to any type of users
and are currently being inserted into commercial and non-commercial applications worldwide. Data sharing
will follow the open data use and distribution, open data license, implemented already in EFFIS, following
the GEOS data sharing principles.
Given the scientific and financial stability of GWIS in the coming years, due to the fact of being under the
umbrella of two strong programs, the EU Copernicus Program and the NASA Advanced Science Program,
continuity and reliability of data storage and access is guaranteed.
23
http://due.esrin.esa.int/page_globcover.phpAnnexes Table 1. Contribution of GWIS to SDGs
A. Individual Participants Individual participants in GWIS are listed at the GWIS partner page: http://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/partners. Temporarily, the names of the participants have been removed from the page. B. Confirmed Contributions Confirmed contributions are those described above, including resources from the European Commission Joint Research Centre, the EU Copernicus Program and the NASA Science Applied Program. C. Task / Work Package Structure Activities in the initiative are organized according to the fire cycle, following the scheme described in Section 8, above. D. Deliverables / Milestones Deliverables in the initiative are organized according to the fire cycle, following the scheme described in Section 8, above.
Annexes I. Acronyms and abbreviations AFIS Advanced Fire Information System CNR Canada Natural Resources ECMWF European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast EDGAR – Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research EFFIS European Forest Fire Information System ESA European Space Agency Fire CCI Fire Climate Change Initiative GAR – Global Assessment of Risk GEO Group on Earth Observations GEOSS Global Earth Observation System of Systems GFWED Global Fire Weather Database GOFC GOLD Global Observation of Forest Cover Global Observation of Land Dynamics GOFC Fire IT Global Observation of Forest Cover Fire Implementation Team GRAF – Global Risk Assessment Framework GTOS Global Terrestrial Observing System GWIS Global Wildfire Information System IMERG Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement). LULUCF - Land Use and Land Use Change MERRA-2 Modern Era Retrospective Reanalysis version 2 MF MeteoFrance MODIS Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NOAA – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration SDGs – Sustainable Development Goals UNISDR - United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction VIIRS Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite WMS Web Map Services II. List of key scientific references relevant for GWIS (relative to the existing products and system). Additional information is provided in the text, as footnotes. ESA Fire CCI project team; Chuvieco, E. (2016): ESA Fire Climate Change Initiative (Fire CCI) Dataset Collection. Centre for Environmental Data Analysis, http://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/bcef9e87740e4cbabc743d295afbe849 Field, R.D., A.C. Spessa, N.A. Aziz, A. Camia, A. Cantin, R. Carr, W.J. de Groot, A.J. Dowdy, M.D. Flannigan, K. Manomaiphiboon, F. Pappenberger, V. Tanpipat, X. Wang. 2015. Development of a Global Fire Weather Database, Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 15, 1407- 1423, doi:10.5194/nhess-15- 1407-2015, 2015 Giglio, L., Boschetti, L., Roy, D.P., Humber, M.L., Justice, C.O., 2018, The collection 6 MODIS burned area mapping algorithm and product, Remote Sensing of Environment, 217, 72-85. Giglio, L., Schroeder, W., Justice, C.O., 2018. The collection 6 MODIS active detection algorithm and fire products, Remote Sensing of Environment, 178, 31-41. Pettinari, L.M., Chuvieco, E. 2016. Generation of a global fuel data set using the fuel characteristic classification system, Biogeosciences, 13, 2061-2076 San-Miguel-Ayanz, J., Schulte, E., Schmuck, G., Camia, A., Strobl, P., Libertà, G., Giovando, C., Boca, R., Sedano, F., Kempeneers, P., McInerney, D., Withmore, C., Santos de Oliveira, S., Rodrigues, M., Durrant,
You can also read
